For San Antonio Little Leagues, playing ball now in sight

FILE - APRIL 30, 2020: The Little League World Series has reportedly been cancelled for the first time in its history due to the coronavirus pandemic. SOUTH WILLAMSPORT, PA - AUGUST 23: General view of the Southwest team from San Antonio, Texas and the West team from Petaluma, California during the first inning of their Little League World Series game on August 23, 2012 in South Willamsport, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images

Shouts of “play ball” could be heard soon throughout San Antonio as Little Leaguers — in both baseball and softball — can start hitting the diamonds at the end of this month after Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement Monday clearing youth sports to resume.

But not everyone is on board yet.

Alamo Heights, Capitol Park, Northwest, Northside Suburban and Bulverde Little League boards are meeting later this week to make final decisions and establish safety guidelines.

“We have presented safety guidelines to our board,” Alamo Heights Little League president Jennifer Colglazier said. “We’ll approach it that if you’re voting for the season, you’re voting for the guidelines, too. We all need to be on the same page.

“We need to give our players the healthiest, safest season we can,” she said.

Two leagues have opted not to play this summer. Greater Helotes Little League announced on Facebook last Friday its decision to cancel, and Towne & Country Optimist Little League announced Tuesday that it had done the same.

“We actually canceled our season about a month ago,” Towne & Country president Louis Sirianni Sr. said. “We’re going to put all of our effort into a fall season.”

Sirianni cited several factors in the decision by the league’s board, the top two being safety and the uncertainty of when play would start before the governor’s announcement Monday.

“We were cut short in the beginning,” he said, referring to the state and local stay-at-home orders issued in late March that kept the league from even starting play. “We didn’t even give out uniforms.”

McAllister Park Little League posted on its website Tuesday that its board of directors voted Monday night to begin playing June 15, the earliest possible date allowed under the governor’s orders.

Practices begin June 1, and the regular season will conclude the last week of July, followed by a postseason tournament for all divisions except T-ball. All games would be concluded by Aug. 7.

Tentative start times for games were released, and guidelines will be emailed to families and then posted to the website.

“Please know your family’s safety and well-being is priority one for all us,” league president Tommy Moeller said on the website. “It is our hope that all of you will cooperate with guidelines laid out and it will be everyone’s responsibility to help promote a safe and healthy environment for our Little League community.”

Little League practices can begin May 31 “without spectators other than one parent or guardian per participant as needed.”

Besides recommending social distancing of 6 feet or more, the order adds that “individuals should avoid being in a group larger than 10 individuals. Within these groups, individuals should, to the extent possible, minimize in-person contact with others not in the individual’s household.

City Attorney Andy Segovia addressed part of Abbott’s order on spectators attending Little League games at a news conference Tuesday hosted by San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.

“They want to limit groups to no more than 10 people,” Segovia said. “With the people spectating, although there’s no fixed percentage or no fixed number, they do want to make sure that social distancing is maintained not only between groups but even within a group of people that are not of the same household.”

The governor’s checklist also includes health protocols for employees, contractors, grounds and facilities as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and state and local health officials.

Leagues have been sharing safety guidelines in hopes of reopening after several baseball and softball Little Leagues started in early March but were shut down in mid-month by the coronavirus pandemic, following the lead of professional sports leagues and the NCAA.

Texas high school governing bodies UIL and TAPPS stopped play March 14, then canceled the rest of their spring sports seasons April 17. Little League International canceled its World Series and regional tournaments April 30, a first for the 83-year-old organization.